Never let it be said that there are no second chances. That it's still
possible to redeem yourself for past errors in judgment is doubly the
message of Counsellor-at-Law: In addition to being one of many vital
nuggets of wisdom Elmer Rice packed into his terrific 1931 play, it's also a
reminder that you now have another opportunity to visit the Peccadillo
Theater Company's glowing production of it, now at the Theatre at St.
Clement's.

For this truly is a gleaming treasure of a production, the type of which
you're seldom likely to find at all and even less likely to unearth more
than once. If you couldn't attend the original engagement that opened
Off-Broadway last May, you now have little excuse for missing it this time
around. The play runs a solid three hours, but the time you spend is an
energizing investment: This is why most of us go to the theatre.

It's difficult to imagine a more sharply honed mounting of Rice's often
didactic melodrama than the one director Dan Wackerman has provided here.
It's not just the sumptuous physical presentation - though Chris Jones's
chiseled and elegant law office set, Tyler Micoleau's brazenly subtle
lights, and Amy Bradshaw's creamy period costumes are all first-rate - but
the elaborate details: the way that scenes flow seamlessly into each other,
the surges in emotion from elation to despondency that percolate through
practically every exchange of words or looks, the almost Dionysian
celebration of understatement and subtext that even the show's two child
actors (Corinne Fitamant and Justin Riordan) have down to an exact science.

The result is that even though the main focus is the title character,
successful New York lawyer George Simon (John Rubinstein), and his position
within several battles in a silently raging class war, everyone seems of
paramount importance. Foremost are George's longing secretary Regina (Lanie
MacEwan), his partner in the law firm (Sal Mistretta), and his haughty
society wife Cora (Beth Glover), who all orbit around him in first-tier
support of the play's examination of anti-Semitism and ideals gone astray.

The specific plot, about attempts to discredit and disbar George based upon
a particularly poor decision he made in his youth, often seems almost an
afterthought; it's thoroughly and intelligently plotted and executed, but
not the kind of thing you're likely to care much about until its nail-biting
conclusion makes it inevitable. Far more interesting and significant to the
experience of the production are the ways the characters interact, and how
the actors playing them bring out every minute nuance of those interactions.

Rubinstein wonderfully delineates the differences in how George deals with
his various clients, his emasculating wife, his coworkers, and his enemies,
and occasionally brings an impish vivacity to his role that anchors the play
simultaneously in 1931 and 2005. And MacEwan is excellent as Regina, saying
less with her lines than with her furtive glances toward Rubinstein, her
nearly imperceptible shifts in vocal tone when talking to Cora, or her
shuffling evasiveness when turning down romantic advancements from a
coworker. The final scene between George and Regina is alternately
harrowing and heartwarming, a master class in developing unspoken feelings
into legitimately captivating theatre.

But even in the tiniest roles are exquisite portraits painted: Tara Sands is
remarkable as the firm's ailing receptionist, Brian N. Taylor is endearingly
arrogant as an amorous law clerk, and Ashley West and Nell Gwynn fully
embody two of George's clients with scarcely a full scene's worth of
dialogue between them. Mary Carver is lovingly doting as Simon's mother,
Ginger Rich is heartbreaking as a mother depending on George to save her
revolutionary son, a role David Lavine imbues with surprising violence and
power.

Everyone, though, is great, and sees to it that not a moment in
Counsellor-at-Law isn't richly vibrant and exciting, a celebration of the
unexpected and undervalued. If there's a problem with this production - at
that's a big "if" - it's perhaps that it too unfairly raises expectations:
Most Broadway plays - and, unfortunately, some musicals - don't dare or
can't dare to have a cast as large as the one here (21 actors).
Off-Broadway, it's an even rarer occurrence.

That's all the more reason to embrace the second chance Wackerman, his
extraordinary cast and crew, and the Peccadillo Theater Company have given
us, with what might well be the definitive modern interpretation of
Counsellor-at-Law. It's the kind of play - and the kind of production -
that you long to see on Broadway, but seldom witness there, Off-Broadway, or
just about anywhere else.

_____________________________

Peccadillo Theater CompanyCounsellor-at-LawThrough March 6
Running Time: 3 hours with one 10-minute intermission
Theatre at St. Clement's, 423 West 46th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues
Schedule and Tickets: 212.868.4444